Baguio market master re-development plan passed

BAGUIO CITY – The City Council approved a resolution approving the conceptual master development plan of the Baguio city public market subject to the introduction of necessary revisions and the conduct of public consultations with the concerned sectors of the city.

The resolution authored by all members of the local legislative body stated that the city’s market facility is where people, residents or visitors, regularly gather not only for the sale and purchase of goods, but also to socialize.

The resolution added that the public market is an iconic landmark and is one of the most well-known tourist attractions considering that it is supposedly the show window of the city being the center of trade and commerce.

Local legislators admitted that the local government needs a re-developed, organized, sanitary public market which will cater to the needs and convenience of the people as well to become the city’s largest and most visited tourist attraction aside from its scenic tourist spots.

Earlier, the local legislative body approved Resolution No. 193, series of 2019 that authorized the local chief executive to create a technical working group (TWG) composed of private and public technical experts to formulate the master re-development plan of the Baguio City public market wherein the same must be presented to the local officials within a 60-day period.

According to the resolution, the master re-development plan that was eventually presented to local officials was branded by the proponents as feasible and offers a long-term solution to address the current state of the public market but the same must pass through numerous revisions and the conduct of public hearings to ascertain the opinion of the general populace on the said proposal.

Under the conceptual master re-development plan of the city’s public market, the local government needs at least P2.5 billion to realize the implementation of the comprehensive development of the market and convert it to one of the best public markets not only in the country but also in the entire Southeast Asia.

However, the local government does not have the sufficient funds to undertake the multi-billion market re-development project that is why it is contemplating on implementing the same by phase until such time that all the components shall have been fully developed as the same will be done in partnership with the thousands of market vendors who stand to benefit from the said project.
Based on the proposed market master re-development plan, the project will be undertaken within the Magsaysay complex, the market main building, the hilltop and Kayang offices, the carinderia area, the walkways and open spaces to accommodate the huge volume of people transacting business with the market vendors daily.

The local government opted to deal with the association of market vendors in the pursuit of the development project instead of dealing with Uniwide Realty and Sales Development corporation considering that the previous contract was already deemed terminated by the city. -- Dexter A. See